{"id":71,"date":"2026-06-16T01:07:06","date_gmt":"2026-06-16T01:07:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mylivingsacrifice.com\/devdemo\/JoeHumphreys\/conservation\/"},"modified":"2026-06-24T15:01:32","modified_gmt":"2026-06-24T15:01:32","slug":"conservation","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/mylivingsacrifice.com\/devdemo\/JoeHumphreys\/conservation\/","title":{"rendered":"Conservation Guide"},"content":{"rendered":"

CONSERVATION IS THE CURRICULUM<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>

Without water quality, you don't have fish.<\/h1>\n<\/div><\/div>

\"It starts right here. It starts at home.\"<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>

- JOE HUMPHREYS<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>

The Spring Creek Story<\/a><\/div>
What Students Do<\/a><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>

PART 1 · IN JOE'S WORDS<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>

The Spring Creek Story<\/h2>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>

MY LIFELINE<\/p>\n

I want to tell you about Spring Creek. My lifeline. The stream where I caught my very first fish. And how I watched it almost die.<\/p>\n

Spring Creek flows 22 miles from a source near my home in the mountains. My childhood. My parents. My siblings. My wife and children. I raised my family on this stream. It runs behind my property.<\/p>\n

Spring Creek means everything to me.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>

LIMESTONE COUNTRY<\/p>\n

Here in central Pennsylvania, we are in limestone country. The runoff from the mountains - the freestone streams go down into the valleys. A lot of the streams go underground and come up as major springs. Clear, cold top-of-the-mountain water. This is why we have such wonderful trout waters.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>

THE CRISIS<\/p>\n

But then came Thompson Spring. Just adjacent to it was a pond called the Duck Pond. The Duck Pond is a storm sewer runoff holding pond. Chemicals, mercury, oils - every contaminant imaginable that flows from the streets of State College. They relocated the highway. That relocation pushed Thompson Spring into the Duck Pond - pushing all of that contaminated water into Spring Creek.<\/p>\n

The water temperature started to climb into the 80s and 90s. Killing the fish. Spring Creek went down as a major trout producer. Seeing its demise was heartbreaking. I couldn't stand it.<\/p>\n

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And so I said: what can I do? What can one man do?<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>

PART 2 · WE BEAT THE ODDS<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>

What One Person Can Do<\/h2>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>

In the early 1970s, I pulled five guys together. We sat at a table right here and formed Spring Creek Trout Unlimited. We determined that we would divert that big spring back around the Duck Pond.<\/p>\n

We had to punch a hole through a concrete wall with a jackhammer. Then I needed a huge pipe to go through the hole we were making to divert that spring. We got it done.<\/p>\n

Spring Creek came back on its feet. It was a major undertaking for a few crazy guys who didn't know when to quit.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>

We beat the odds.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>

THE WORK IS NEVER FINISHED<\/p>\n

The work is never finished. The dike has eroded. A good third of Thompson Spring is now entering the Duck Pond again - which we've got to correct. You have to be aware of what is happening. But people are aware now. It takes a lot of thought and effort from a lot of people to get it done.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>

PART 3 · LIVING WATER-QUALITY INDICATORS<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>

Brook Trout as Living Water-Quality Indicators<\/h2>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>

\"To catch a brook trout in all its regular beauty - it's gold to me.\"<\/p>\n

- JOE HUMPHREYS<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>

Brook trout are the canary in the coal mine for Pennsylvania's cold-water streams. They're very sensitive to pollution. And a lot of the same streams where these brook trout live - those are the same streams where we get our drinking water.<\/p>\n

If you find brook trout, the water is clean. If they disappear, pay attention. They're telling you something.<\/p>\n

We have more trout streams in Pennsylvania than any other state in the union - other than Alaska. Central Pennsylvania is limestone country. The runoff from the mountains - freestone streams going underground, coming up as major springs. Clear, cold top-of-the-mountain water. Your trout population demands temperatures in the 50s and 60s to survive.<\/p>\n

That is the world we protect.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>

THE RULE<\/p>\n

Find brook trout, the water is clean.<\/p>\n

Lose them, and something is wrong upstream.<\/p>\n

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WHAT BROOK TROUT NEED<\/p>\n

✓  Cold water - temperatures in the 50s and 60s<\/p>\n

✓  Clear, cold top-of-the-mountain water<\/p>\n

✓  Clean limestone springs<\/p>\n

✓  No pollution upstream<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>

PART 4 · NOT A LESSON, AN ACTION<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>

What Students Do<\/h2>\n<\/div><\/div>

Every program ends with a conservation action. Not a lesson - an action.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>

✓<\/span>Hands-on aquatic macroinvertebrate survey (turn over rocks, find what's living there)<\/p>\n

✓<\/span>Brook trout population count at a surveyed reach<\/p>\n

✓<\/span>Stream data reported to Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission<\/p>\n

✓<\/span>Stream cleanup as part of every capstone day<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>

\"I saw these kids so excited. It takes me back to my childhood. My feet would not have touched the ground for probably a month. I would have been so excited. I understand these kids.\"<\/p>\n

- JOE HUMPHREYS<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>

TRY IT<\/p>\n

Flip a Rock, Find the Bug<\/h2>\n<\/div><\/div>

Flip a Rock - Find the Bug - Get the Fly<\/h3>

Turn over a rock in the stream, look at the bug clinging underneath, and answer the questions. We will name the bug, hand you the right fly, and tell you what it means for the water.<\/p><\/div>